The disclosure relates to a urine analysis system for analyzing a urine sample, an image capturing apparatus for capturing an image of the urine sample, a cell image capturing apparatus for capturing an image of a cell included in a liquid specimen, a urine analysis method, a management apparatus, and an information processing apparatus.
There is known an automatic analysis apparatus that analyzes particles in a urine specimen using a flow cytometry method (Japanese Patent Publication Application Nos. H09-329596, 2002-188993, and H08-136438). The automatic analysis apparatus that performs an analysis using the flow cytometry method is advantageous in that measurement can be quickly performed and particles in urine can be analyzed accurately because a large amount of the urine specimen can be processed by a flow cytometer in the measurement.
However, in the urine, in some case, mucous threads sometimes having a form like a cast and aggregates of bacteria, salts and the like are present. In a method of performing an analysis using the flow cytometer, these particles sometimes cannot be distinguished and accurately detected since scattered lights and fluorescent lights detected from the particles are similar to one another. Similarly, when crystal components and yeast-like funguses having a shape similar to red blood cells are present in the urine, these particles sometimes cannot be accurately detected.
A typical cells are sometimes included in urine of a patient having a cancer in a urinary tract system. The atypical cells refer to malignant cells and malignant suspicious cells, and in other words, cells showing heteromorphism such as a nucleus increase accompanying an increase in the amount of nucleic acid and a chromatin increase. It is extremely clinically important for early finding of a kidney disease and cancer of a urinary tract system to detect atypical cells included in urine. However, in the method using the flow cytometer, the atypical cells in the urine sometimes cannot be distinguished from other urine particles and accurately detected.
Therefore, some of samples are sent to a reexamination, in which a smear is prepared after pretreatment such as concentration by centrifugation, staining, and the like, and a visual test on the prepared smear is performed by a laboratory technician using a microscope.
The pretreatment such as the concentration by the centrifugation, the staining, and the like and the preparation of the smear take labor and time. A large burden is imposed on the laboratory technician for the visual test of the prepared smear. It is demanded that the labor and time and the burden be reduced and particles in urine be efficiently and accurately distinguished.